Wireless local area networks (LANs) have been developed to work in conjunction with or in place of wired local area networks. In a wireless LAN, one or more host devices comprising wireless LAN devices communicate with one or more base stations or access points. The access points bridge the wireless LAN and a wired communication network and act as controllers for the wireless LAN.
The consumption of power by a host device is a grave concern, especially if the host device is battery-operated. As long as the host device is powered on, the wireless LAN device of the host device is on. While the wireless LAN device is on, it transmits and receives signals to and from the access points. This continuous transmission and receipt of signals by the wireless LAN device accounts for a large percentage of the power consumption of the wireless LAN device and causes a sizeable unnecessary drain on the battery power of the host device.